


Sleight of Hand

by Windschwinge



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, I tell you!!!, Nonmagical in magical World, Should win a damn oscar for surviving it, pretending to be something one isn't, the whole world is crazy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 20:50:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13085115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windschwinge/pseuds/Windschwinge
Summary: That single letter changed my life and that only because I thought it was a huge practical joke one of my friends decided to pull on me. The letter told me that should I chose to attend I would be accepted as one of the students of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.… a magic school, hehe, please as if that was possible. Magicians never share their sleight of hand.And anyway, I aren't a Wizard I am a Magician. I don't have "real" magic.Still the joke is great, isn't it?!





	Sleight of Hand

**Author's Note:**

> The letter arrives

Chapter 1 - The letter

I still don’t really understand how it happened. Well I do know how it happened, but still do not know HOW IT HAPPENED, if you understand what I mean. Chronological I got out of bed one beautiful morning (well it was storming with dark clouds, flashes of lightning and thunder – looking back it was probably foreshadowing I believe), brushed my teeth, ate my breakfast and was about to leave the house to go to school when I stepped on a letter.  
That single letter changed my life and that only because I thought it was a huge practical joke one of my friends decided to pull on me. The letter told me that should I chose to attend I would be accepted as one of the students of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. 

Short background story for those of you that don’t know me. I was always fascinated with magic, the magic that all those great magicians in shows or at the street performed. What some people might call the sleight of hand. I really loved those since I was a small kid and I wanted to be able to do them myself, so I studied, I trained, and I succeeded to do the impossible (hey, I thought it would be impossible for me). I learned to do magic, as in sleight of hand “tricks”, thought I don’t like to use the word trick since that takes quite a lot of fascination out of it. 

To train and get better, I started to do those wherever I could. At home (my family found those interesting only the first few hundred times before they started to groan at me) at school (they still find It interesting, but they haven’t suffered quite as much) and even on the street before complete strangers. 

I (and that may be quite conceited) reached great heights and reached a level where most if not all will never be able to understand how my magic works. Well at least I believe that since most of my audience ask themselves how it is possible. 

Well, expect some weird ones that whisper and point and look horrified, why ever. One of those (I am already able to distinguish those since they are always weirdly dressed and never seem to fit) even pulled me to the side at the end of my performance and told me that it was very dangerous and illicit to perform magic before muggles (what the hell is a muggle??). She tut-tut!ed at me, as if I knew what she was talking about before she stalked away, leaving as if she had done her duty. What-the??? Crazy right? Or at least at that time I thought she was crazy, no not that she wasn’t crazy, because let me tell you, the people at this school and all the others are completely bonkers. Their laws, their behaviour, their rules and their believes, total crazy I tell you. 

Well coming back to that letter – as I said, I thought it was a joke and so, without asking my parents because apparently that letter didn’t even need a signature of them truly, I decided to sign. At least that way, me and my friends could have a good laugh … a magic school, hehe, please as if that was possible. Magicians never shared their sleights of hand. So there I was, holding the letter in my right hand and opening the door with my left, when innocent and naïve me was suddenly attacked by an owl AT seven o’clock in the MORNING???

I mean, didn’t owls already sleep at this time of day? And where did it even come from?? Without understanding the situation one bit, this great swooping owl grabbed that letter and flew it. It ###### flew of with MY letter. The nerve of that animal, the next time I saw it there would be retribution, mark my words (even if I know now that that is their job, I will find it and I will make it suffer – I haven’t found it yet). Well putting the stupid bird out of my mind for the moment, I walked to school, sans letter. When I apologized my friends for loosing (dump bird) that letter, the just gave me weird looks and told me it wasn’t from them. 

Still their faces lit up as I told them the details of that letter and what it entailed. They thought it was and would have been a great joke. I agreed, it had been a good laugh, if only the letter hadn’t suddenly grown wings and quite literal flown off (that bird would get it). 

The rest of the day went absolutely normal, which should have alerted me that something was about to go very wrong. I had learned quite early in my life that such weathers always foreshadowed a coming event that would change my life (or at least I liked to think that – was probably not really true, I mean that there where storms where nothing of interest happened, but I probably deleted those – I mean in Disney that is absolutely true!).  
The rest of the day I spent with friends, went to the shopping centre, had a good time and enjoyed myself. I came back quite late and rang the bell (I did have my keys with me but they were somewhere in my rucksack and I was to lazy to get them out) only for it to be opened by a complete stranger. I mean who was this woman? 

O god, I thought at that moment, she is one of the crazy‼ I could see it in her dressing style and the hairdo that she sported, even the look that she gave me was outing her. And this woman was standing in MY house (Well the house of my parents but that’s the same right?) and opened the door for me. Where were my parents?

“Mom? Dad? You home?” I won’t admit it, but I panicked and shuffled back. I wouldn’t talk to the crazy that broke into my house and I needed a distance of at least two meters at that moment.  
The crazy looked a bit surprised but mostly amused. 

My parents answered a second later, at least there was that “We are in the living room sweetie, come in”  
My mother sounded strained, as if she still wasn’t sure what she should think of whatever had happened before I arrived. This could be a trick to lure me inside. The moment I stepped into the door I would be caught. Should I be sensible and run, scream for help, leaving my parents to their fate till I got back up or should a be stupidly brave and risk my own skin to try and protect my family only to stupidly fail at the end (I mean I am only eleven years old and the woman was twice my size). Stupidly brave and suicidal it was. Walking past that woman I kept my eyes on her the whole way to the living room and never turned my back on her. I mean she was one of the crazy, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she suddenly drew a knife and stabbed me in the back (dark thoughts I know but DISNEY).

Sweetie come here would you. I want to introduce you to someone.” Her eyes never left the crazy – my mom was a smart woman. “This is Professor Minerva McGonagall, working for the school …” There she paused, as if she couldn’t quite recall the name of said school “the schools name is Hogwarts, a school for young witches and wizards to learn to control their powers.” The crazy said. 

WAIT, my thoughts paused, Hogwarts…no way‼! The letter had been from my parents! My parents where playing a joke at my expense. I knew it…this was revenge for all the sleights of hands I studied on them wasn’t it. I mean come on…they even hired a crazy…or asked a friend to help them set this all up. BUT NOT with me, I wouldn’t fall for it. Well maybe I would play along, and at the last moment where they wanted to spring it I would utterly destroy them.  
“So the letter I received this morning was yours? I thought it was a practical joke” A meaningful look towards my parents revealed their surprised expressions, hah they were good. 

“Yes, but I can assure you that it was no practical joke, but quite real. Has there never been incidents around you that you just couldn’t explain, that seem to be magical? We, the wizard world as a whole call that accidental magic, magic done by a child that still hasn’t learned how to control its powers just yet. What you should know is that the wizard world hides itself from all that is nonmagical. To prevent our reveal because of children that couldn’t control their powers a school was formed that would not only teach them how their powers are controlled and used but also to protect them from the nonmagical that can react quite cruelly to the inexplainable. To that end the school visit is mandatory, even if the children can decide to which school they wish to go. Mostly they visit the school which is the nearest to them.” …That was quite detailed for a practical joke, wasn’t it? I threw a few looks toward my parents, expressing my disbelieve, while I received quite a lot in return. Weren’t they in on this joke? Was the crazy the only one who initiated it?

“To prevent children from being overlooked we created a warning system of sorts that alerted us of the birth of every magical child, may they be born from magical or nonmagical parents. As it is with all system, it isn’t all powerful and perfect and it does make mistake. We believe that you are one of said mistakes, as we were alerted by one of the witches living nearby that you were performing magic before quite a lot of people.”  
Was she talking about the other crazy? Was there a whole society of crazies that leaved nearby? 

“Most of these people thought that your magic was just some childish tricks, so we needn’t do anything and those that did think it was magic where already obliviated, so they aren’t a problem anymore.”

“Obliviated?” I asked in a faint voice – my parents had gone white. “What exactly does that mean?

“We erased their memory of that moment and replaced it with something mundane so that they wouldn’t remember or question it” She said that as if it was natural. If this was a practical joke it went to far. There was no joking of erasing the memory of someone else. What if they did a mistake, how good could they even control it. Was there some poor bloke out there that just woke up one morning without any memory at all and they wouldn’t care as long as he didn’t remember that bit.  
“Well” she continued without pause or care that me and my parents were not really listening to her at all anymore. 

“As you have signed the letter that you received I am delighted to announce that coming this September you will attend our school Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry” She said it so proudly as if I should be honoured to go to their crazy school, if that even existed. 

“Wait just one moment” My dad jumped in before she could get any further. My dad should win a hero price, because at that moment he made my day. “I won’t send my son to some school that I have never seen or even heard about, only because he signed the paper. Nothing against you son, but you are only eleven. Not to mention that you talked about magic all the time, but I haven’t seen you do even one bit of magic till now. Just because you came in here dressed like this you think we will believe the humbug you told us till now?”

The crazy lady gave us a small smile bevor she summoned a small light ball using her wand chough-stick-chough. My parents looked unimpressed. I did that all the time. They could probably do it themselves so often had they watched me perform such act.  
The lady looked surprised as if she thought that such simple “trick” would do. Noticing that her “magic” hadn’t been all that successful in impressing us, she looked around herself only to see a broken drinking glass standing on the table in between us. She pointed her “wand” at it spoke a few words and voila – it was repaired, a child’s play. 

My parents continued to look unimpressed. The crazy furrowed her brows, she probably had never had such hard audience before her before, ha, bloody amateur.  
Than she stood up (I almost thought she was about to fell now that her at was up) and jumped…and then my mind was blown! She turned into a ####### cat right before our eyes. She didn’t suddenly disappear, with a cat appearing in her place, no it was a gradual if quick change that could be watched. 

‘So Magic, magic is Real, oh my god‼!’ Our expressions must have looked great going by the smug look that the cat was sporting (or it was the cats regular look – they always looked somewhat smug to me). 

She turned back to a human a second later, gave me a list of what I needed to buy for the lessons at Hogwarts and told us that coming next Sunday they would be meeting as a group for all nonmagical parents to do just that (Address and Date were written on the back side of the paper she gave me. Then without even by your leave she turned and disappeared with a bang. Not even allowing my father another word in. She didn’t even ask him for permission.

“Magic” my father said what was on all of our minds. “So…can you do “real” magic?” My father could always sense when something wasn’t quite right, I tell you.

“No” I gave the confirmation. Never in all my life had I had any powers beyond the ones I trained and earned through hard work. My parents had also never seen any unexpected accidents where I couldn’t describe how exactly it was performed.

“They ‘obligate’ people that aren’t in the known, don’t they” my mother asked concerned. Mind magic…the darkest magic of them all.

“Yes, that is what the Professor told us didn’t she?” My father asked resigned.

“Well I only need to control my ‘powers’. I should be able to appear magical enough that I will get out of their without anyone the wiser shouldn’t I” I asked them after a short pause. 

“It could be dangerous!” My mother didn’t seem to like the idea at all. She was the sensible one in this family. 

“Well no pain no gain as we always say” I tried to joke. My mother had the act of staring someone down perfected to an art.

I still don’t know how I convinced them to attend the magic school, maybe it was the begging, maybe it was the tantrum, maybe it was the interest I showed (you don’t get to a magical school as a nonmagical ever, probably, that was my change), still at the end they allowed me to go.  
.  
.  
.  
So Magic

___________________________________________________________________________  
I hoped you liked the first chapter of the hopefully long story. I got this idea when I watched all those magic shows on youtube because most of the sleight of hand they perform there could also be found in the wizard world of Harry Potter and I wondered what would happened if they mistook a child that did that kind of magic as a magical child who could perform their kind of magic. I can imagen it pretty well with how problematic and crazy they are.  
If there are mistakes, please mention them as my first language isn’t English and it will only help me in the long run.  
Good night and enjoy your read


End file.
